The End of An Era
by aresrat
Summary: The Corinthos/DiMera war reaches its bloody conclusion in this third and final installment in the trilogy started in The Man Behind the Mask.
1. Chapter 1

**All the bags were packed and the jet was ready for EJ and Stefano's return to America. **

**"****Are you sure about this?" Stefano asked his son for the umpteenth time since they'd went into hiding two months prior.**

**"****Of course I am." EJ responded. "And would you stop asking me that? You know very well why I am doing this and when it will end."**

**"****At this point I am not even sure if you know when it will end."**

**EJ turned sharply on his father. "Look. I am doing what I need to in order to avenge my child. By this time tomorrow, this will all be over."**

**"****And then what?" The Phoenix continued when there was silence. "You are an international fugitive, the most wanted man in the world. I can still have a public life after this, but you cannot. You can never return home to your kids."**

**"****I'll figure that out later," EJ said coldly, "but for now, I'm focusing on the task at hand, ending Sonny Corinthos."**

**Stefano exhaled deeply. "So be it." He opened the front door to their safe house. "On to Port Charles." **

**"****Not quite." his son corrected, coming up behind me, zipping up an expensive coat. "There's one stop I have to make first."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sami Brady was casually watching a lifetime movie when her doorbell rang. She'd remained in the DiMera mansion, despite what her husband had done. At first it had been out of confusion as to what to do with her life, but now it was something else. **

**When she saw that it was her mother on the other side of the door, they didn't speak, but hugged instead.**

**"****How are you, sweetie?" Marlena asked.**

**"****I've been better." Sami replied as they went back to the couch.**

**Marlena sat down with unease. "Honey, you know you don't have to live in this house."**

**"****Yeah, I know, but I want to. The kids feel safe here. And plus, with their dad not around, I thought that they should be somewhere familiar to them."**

**"****Well, that makes since, but still-"**

**"****It's fine, Mom." Sami assured.**

**"****When did you get so better?" The last time Dr. Evans had spoken to her daughter, not even two days before, she was still sulking in her depression. "I mean, it's a good thing, but when?"**

**Sami shrugged. "Well, yesterday I was just thinking about everything, and I came to a realization."**

**"****Which is?"**

**"****I shouldn't let what EJ did bring me down."**

**"****Well, that's good sweetie," Marlena beamed. **

**"****Yeah. His actions and decisions were his own." She paused. "Now all I can do is hope that the police find him soon, or better, that that Corinthos guy kills him soon."**


	3. Chapter 3

Kiki sat by Michael's bedside, holding his hand as she quietly sang to him.

"I think your voice is more likely to wake him up than the doctors." Kiki was about a minute into a song when Carly walked into the room.

"Thanks." she said somberly. "I just don't know what else to do."

Michael had been minutes from death when he'd arrived at General Hospital, but quick work on the part of his doctors had saved his life, but, for the second time in his life, he was in a coma due to mob violence.

Carly walked over to Kiki and gave her a hug. "What you're doing is perfect."

They both looked toward the door as Sonny entered the room. "Any change?" he asked, already knowing the answer, but not wanting there to be an awkward silence.

"Of course not." Kiki snapped coldly.

Sonny noticed. "I'm sorry," he said. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, just about everything."

"Kiki!" Carly exclaimed.

"No! I think it's about time someone said this." Kiki got up and walked straight up to Sonny. "All of this is your fault!"

"I know." he responded sadly.

"No, you don't. If you really knew, then you wouldn't keep putting your family in this position."

"Kiki, that's enough." said Carly.

She was ignored. "How many people have to get hurt? How many of your children have to die or get put into comas before you realize the destructive nature of your life?"

Sonny said nothing. He just looked from Kiki to Carly, who had her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide, and then at Michael, laying motionless in a hospital bed with tubes everywhere. Then he turned around and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Sonny would never admit this to anyone, but he cried the whole way home. As his driver drove, and his guards followed in black SUV's, he just sat in the backseat alone and wept. Everything that Kiki had said was true. This was all his fault. The life he'd chosen was now destroying his family. Worst of all, he could've avoided all of it. If he'd just left the business back when he was married to Carly, or stayed out when he'd left it for Connie. But no, he'd been stubborn, and this was the price he had to pay.

After he entered his home, he quickly wiped the tears away when he heard Ava in the living room, and she sounded like she was having a conversation. He entered the room angry that she invited someone into his home without telling him, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who she was talking to.

Ava was holding a baby, and looked up when Sonny walked in.

"Hey." she smiled.

"Wh-What's this?" he asked, slightly confused.

"What do you think?" she said, beaming. "It's Maura."

He didn't know what to think. "I thought you had her hidden away in some top secret spot?"

"She was with my mother." There was a moment of silence before Ava spoke up. "Well, aren't you going to come say hello?"

Sonny slowly walked over to the sofa, uneasy at first, but then sure of himself. Ava gave him the baby and he was all dimples from there. "She's got that Corinthos charm." he said with a laugh.

"Sonny, do you know why I brought her here now?" She continued when he didn't answer. "I know it's been hard ever since Michael was shot, but we have to get back in the game. For her future and for ours. It's time to end EJ DiMera, and his wretched father for good measure."

Sonny kept his eyes on Maura as he spoke. "I agree. Also, something Kiki said to me just now made me come to a decision." He paused for a couple seconds to smile at the baby. "After the DiMeras are dead, I'm out of the business."


	5. Chapter 5

Ever since Luke had woken up the week before, he'd remembered his friends and family, but still insisted he was Ryan Brady. Hope had informed them that someone in Salem, her ex-husband in fact, had also thought he was Ryan Brady for several years before finding out that he wasn't.

Lulu and Lucky sat by their father's side, conversing as he slept peacefully.

"So, why do you think Dad thinks he's this Ryan Brady or John Black guy?" Lucky asked his sister?

Lulu just shrugged. They'd had this discussion what seemed like a million times. "Something must have happened when he was in Miscavige. The DiMeras must've did something to make him believe it."

"Like mind control?"

The thought sent a chill through Lulu. "I don't know, but the DNA test should put all of this to rest."

Since someone impersonating Luke was part of what had gotten them their in the first place, it was decided that a DNA test would be used to decipher Luke's claims. His saliva was tested against those of Lulu, Lucky, and his sister, Bobbie.

Felix Dubois entered the room then, a manilla folder in hand.

"Is that the results of the DNA test?" Lulu inquired.

Felix looked a bit uneasy. "Yeah, but there's a bit of a confusion."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, according to the test, The man laying in that bed is indeed you and your brother's father, but the three of you aren't related to Nurse Spencer in any way, shape or form."


	6. Chapter 6

"So, you're telling me that there's a man in New York claiming to be Ryan Brady?" John Black wasn't mad or upset, but curious.

"Apparently so." Hope and John sat in a booth at Club TBD. She'd decided that maybe John should know about the situation with Luke Spencer. "But keep in mind, he has just been through a traumatic experience."

John thought it over. "Yeah, but of all the people to claim to be, he's claiming Ryan Brady. You think it'll just pass?"

"Well-" Hope was interrupted by her phone going off. "Excuse me." she said before answering.

"Police business?" John asked after she got off.

"Um, no. Actually, it was about Luke."

"What about him?"

"How would you like to go to Port Charles and take a DNA test?" she asked. "I think I might know what's going on."


	7. Chapter 7

**Johnny and Sydney DiMera slept in separate beds in opposite sides of their room. EJ stood in the doorway, watching them with admiration. They were so innocent, so lucky. They didn't know the harshness of the real world yet. He went over Johnny and kissed his forehead before doing the same to Sydney.**

**"****What the hell are you doing here?"**

**EJ stood and turned to face his wife. Sami was giving him a look that had the intensity of a bullet. "I take it you aren't happy to see me." he said with a hint of sincerity.**

**Sami continued to stare at him. "You didn't answer my question."**

**"****Well, I thought I'd come by to see the children before-"**

**"****Before what?" she seethed. "You go to prison for the rest of your life, or, even better, die?"**

**"****Is that what you really want?" he sounded hurt. "You want me dead?"**

**"****How could I not? After what you did, what you're still doing. You humiliated me!"**

**"****Sshhhh! You might wake them." he warned.**

**"****Leave!" she whisper-yelled.**

**"****Alright," he said as he went to the door, "but I'll be back. I just have to go end this."**

**Then he left, leaving Sami alone with their kids. She silently began to weep.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Listen up, everyone." Anna Devane called out to the squad room as the sun rose outside. "I've just gotten word the EJ DiMera was spotted in Salem a couple hours ago and is most likely in route to our city, if he isn't here already."

"Who called in the sighting?" Dante asked.

"EJ DiMera's wife, Sami Brady DiMera." she replied. "Apparently, Mr. DiMera decided to pay his children a visit in the early morning hours while they were sleeping. Mrs. DiMera heard him come in and confronted him."

"He didn't hurt her, did he?" Detective West asked.

"No. In fact, she told him to leave and he did, but not before telling her that he was going to 'end this.' We can only assume that he was talking about Sonny Corinthos."

"So how we gonna play this?"

"Well, I want officers at every airport in the area." she said. "I also want officers near Sonny Corinthos' house and Michael Corinthos' hospital room." Anna gave her officers one final look over. "Now, good luck and Godspeed. Let's end this blood war once and for all."


	9. Chapter 9

John Black stood outside Luke Spencer's hospital room thinking about how bizarre all of this was. Well, after seeing his wife possessed by a demon twice, he should've been used to bizarre things happening, but still. Maybe Salem and Port Charles are just naturally bizarre places, he thought.

"How you holding up?" Hope asked as she came up to him with a cup of coffee.

"Eh, I've had less weird moments, but also weirder, so I'm cool."

"Any word on when the test should be back?"

"Here they are." said Felix, walking up, folder in hand. "Shall we?" he asked as he motioned toward Luke's door. They entered.

They walked in as Luke, Lucky, and Lulu were having a conversation. "What's going on?" Lulu asked.

"Well, when you called and told me the results of your DNA test," Hope began, "I thought of a theory and so had John come down here to take a test."

"Who's DNA did you test his against?"

"Nurse Spencer." Felix replied. "We explained and she approved."

"So, what do they say?" John asked.

Felix opened the envelope. "According to the test, "Mr. Black here is Nurse Spencer's brother."

"What?" John said with confusion. "Let me see that."

"You can have it." Felix said as he left.

"What does this mean?" Lulu asked.

Hope stepped up. "This was my theory. What it means is that John is the real Luke Spencer and your father is the real Ryan Brady."

"But how?"

"Well, when Luke was talking about being Ryan Brady, it got me thinking and so I did my research. As it turns out, Colleen Brady gave birth to Ryan Brady on the same day that Lena Eckert Spencer gave birth to Luke Spencer, and in the same hospital. The only explanation I can think of is that the two of you were somehow switched. Maybe a mistake by a nurse."

Lulu was visibly creeped out. "So if we aren't a part of the Spencer family, then who are we?"

"The three of you, and also you're children and any future generations after your children are a part of the Brady and DiMera families." Hope informed them.

John just laughed. "Good luck with that."


	10. Chapter 10

**As their unmarked black private jet landed at Webber Field, a single thought went through EJ's mind: The end is near.**

**They had a limo waiting for them when they got off. As mysteriously as they 'd arrived, they got in the limo and left, headed straight for Sonny Corinthos' house.**

**They didn't even notice the police cruiser part a hundred feet away.**

**"****I have a visual on Elvis and Stefano DiMera." the uniform said into his radio as he put down his binoculars. They are headed south."**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alexis perked up as her police scanner went crazy with officers going back and forth about EJ heading to Sonny's. **

**She hopped up and went to her closet, emerging in all black. She then went to her safe. After opening it, she caressed her revolver before tucking it in her back waistband and heading out.**


	12. Chapter 12

**EJ had already taken out five of Sonny's guards by the time he got to the front door. For extra protection, he'd put a silencer on his pistol.**

**His heart pounded in his chest as he prepared to kick the door down. After over twenty years, it had come down to this. He was finally about to kill Sonny Corinthos. So many had tried before him, but they weren't DiMeras. This was his kill.**

**_One._****He thought of that day on the roof. ****_Two. _****He thought of everybody that Sonny had ever hurt. ****_Three. _****He raised his foot.**

**"****FREEZE!" Anna Devane yelled as she rushed up to EJ, flanked by numerous officers and detectives.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sonny Corinthos hadn't been asleep, so when he heard the police sirens pull up to his house he did the only sensible thing he could think of; he got his gun.**

**As he crept down the stairs, he thought of all the possible things that could be happening. Most importantly, he thought of protecting Maura. There was no way he was going to allow anything bad to happen to that girl.**

**When he got to his front door, he looked through the peephole and was surprised by what he saw. EJ DiMera and the PCPD were in a stand-off. About thirty cops pointed their guns at EJ as he pointed a pistol with a silencer at them.**

**"****Drop your weapon!" he heard Anna command.**

**Instead of obeying, EJ did something no one expected. He ran a few steps to his left before jumping straight through the window next to Sonny's front door.**

**Sonny was so shocked that EJ was allowed time to get up and realize Sonny was standing right in front of him, aim and fire.**


	14. Chapter 14

The bullet pierced Sonny's chest, causing him to collapse.

EJ immediately ran over and kicked Sonny's weapon away. "I have a hostage!" he called out to the cops.

"You son of a bitch!" Sonny yelled as EJ kneeled over him.

"How does it feel, Sonny?" EJ taunted. "You're about to die. Your reign as king of the mob will be over in a matter of minutes."

"It never had to be like this." Sonny spat out in between breaths.

"Of course not. You caused this." EJ accused.

"Why are you such a baby?"

"Because you killed mine!" EJ put his gun to Sonny's chest. "Goodbye, Sonny." he said before putting three more rounds in Sonny's chest, including one in the heart. "That's for my child." he said as he stood up.

_Pop! Pop! Pop!_ The shots sent EJ reeling back against the wall behind him, making him drop his gun. Alexis step through the living room doorway, having come in through the back door.

_Pop! Pop!_ EJ slid down into a sitting position, the five bullets in his chest not making standing an option.

Alexis got up close to EJ and put the gun to his temple. "And this is for Julian." P_op!_


	15. Epilogue

**20 Years Later**

Josslyn Jacks sat by her brother's bedside, twirling her wedding ring. Besides her husband and her baby on the way, Michael was the only family she had left. Although he'd been in his coma for twenty years, she still had hope that one day he'd wake up. So much had happened since he'd went under that she came and sat for an hour everyday just in case he woke up so that she could explain it all.

Their mom had died a grieving alcoholic fifteen years before, right before Joss had started high school. After that, Lulu had taken her in until she went off to college and got her degree in criminal justice. She'd made detective two years ago. She guessed that living with Dante had inspired her.

Kiki had married Chad DiMera the week before, a move that some in Port Charles, including herself, considered a deep betrayal of Michael. Even Lulu thought so.

A few months after finding out that they weren't Spencers, Luke, Lulu, and Lucky reached out to the Bradys and have been close with them ever since. However, they wanted nothing to do with the DiMeras, and who could blame them.

Speaking of the DiMeras, Stefano had been arrested that morning outside Sonny's house, but escaped custody after a few days and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

"An now, on to the events of twenty years ago, a time that changed Port Charles forever." Josslyn hadn't even noticed that the tv was on, but now paid attention to it.

Georgie Spinelli, the lights and cameras causing her blonde hair to shine, sat at her desk on the set of the 9 o'clock news. "It was on this day, twenty years ago, that international crime lord EJ DiMera gunned down notorious Port Charles kingpin Sonny Corinthos, before being gunned down himself by Alexis Davis, who many say could've one day been mayor or DA, if not for the crime, which earned her a life sentence in Pentonville, which she continues to serve to this day. However, she will be up for parole next week."

"How's the patient?" Dr. Emma Scorpio-Drake asked as she entered the room.

"You're the doctor." Josslyn, replied, annoyed. "You tell me."

"Who knew a detective could be so childish?" Emma said to herself as she started checking Michael's vitals.

"Whatever." Josslyn retorted. "How is he?"

"Well, there appears to be no change."

The detective wasn't surprised. "You can leave now."

"Look," Emma snapped, "I don't need you telling me how to do my job."

They both looked up as the door shut. "You two in the same room, never a good thing." Spencer Cassadine said as he walked over to Josslyn and gave his wife a kiss.

"Well then it's a good thing I'm finished now,isn't it?" Emma said as she walked to the door and left.

"How was work?" Josslyn asked her husband as she took her brother's hand in hers.

"Same old, same old." he said. That was a typical response nowadays. Things at Cassadine Industries never really changed since he'd brought ELQ. With the two companies merged, no other company could really compete, which meant more money everyday, which also meant very little risk, which mean very much boredom. Spencer was starting to rethink his career in business.

"The doctor said everything's the way it should be with the baby. Are you sure you don't want to know the sex yet?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Why-"

"Oh my God!" Josslyn cried out.

"Is it the baby?" Spencer went into command mode.

"No." she said, shaking her head. "Michael. I think he just squeezed my hand." She turned toward her brother. "Michael, can you hear me?"

His eyelids began to flutter like butterfly wings. "Go get Emma!" she told her husband.

Michael's eyes opened wide as Spencer flung the door open.

Georgie continued on screen. "If we learned anything as a community twenty years ago, it's that we can't just sit back and let violence happen out of fear. And I think I can say without doubt that we all agree that what happened that morning was, for the better, the end of an era."

The End


End file.
